Review: Suicide Squad

This isn't what I signed up for. 

I'll admit it. I saw Suicide Squad for Harley Quinn. The promotions started to sell me, but I tried to stay focused.  So when all the shitty reviews started rolling in, I told myself I'd be okay, because I was only here for Harley. That worked out in my favor because this film is a damn mess.

Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) wants to put together an elite team of super villains to guard the U.S in wake of Superman's "death." She plants bombs into their necks and demands they do her biding, and she'll reduce their sentences. There's Dead Shot (Will Smith, playing himself) the leader who desperately wants to get out to see his daughter. Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) the crazy ex psychiatrist, who I'll talk about a bit later. El Diablo, (Jay Hernandez) a fire starter, and a bunch of other people the film doesn't care to let us get to know. They are all lead by soldier named Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) Their assignment is to stop a witch named Enchantress (Cara Delevinge) who happens to be possessing the body of Flag's girlfriend.

DC's biggest downfall is the fact that they don't take their time. They want to compete with Marvel, but aren't willing to build. Time is a huge problem in Suicide Squad. We get brief glimpses of our villains (they're bad guys, they tell us this often) in a few musical montages, which works in theory, but didn't leave me satisfied at all. Especially when it came to the best part of the movie: Harley Quinn. Harley is an amazing character and it's a joy to see her on the big screen. Margot Robbie is absolute perfection, but her story is so rushed that it doesn't feel anything like the Harley/Joker dynamic we're used to.

The Joker (Jared Leto) basically has a glorified cameo in this film. Fresh out of a vat of Hot Topic, Mister J wants nothing more than to free his precious Harley, which is extremely bizarre considering their relationship has always been pretty one sided on Harley's part. Here, she's the big dog. She's the more intimidating one, and I found it odd that he was going at such great lengths to break her out. Not that it's completely out of character, but like Sati said in her review. It's like WB wanted to turn him into a romantic hero and it just doesn't work.

But back to time, had DC taken it, I feel like these characters would've worked better had we seen them before. Batman should've already had his own movie and taken on Harley and the Joker. Aquaman could've tangled with Killer Croc. The Flash could've thrown Boomerang in jail in his own movie, and maybe one up'd dead shot too. Wonder Woman could've taken on...whatever the fuck Diablo turns into in the 3rd act. It would've made this film so much more meaningful and fleshed out had we see the heroes put these villains away in their own respective movies, only for them to break out with this one.

The biggest let down by far is Enchantress. When Cara was cast, I immediately rolled my eyes, because she isn't a strong actress. But then they showed those TV spots of her showing off her power in a crowded room full of suits, and I was sold. But wow, it was awful. First, if you have an actress that isn't very strong, the last thing you should do is give her this fake, deep evil voice. It made her look cartoony. The sexy dancing didn't help, Marvel's Scarlet Witch has the gold medal in super power dance movies. Enchantress face planted on the uneven bars. In fact, the 3rd act of the film is so messy I can't believe that was the product of reshoots. David Ayer apparently graduated valedictorian at the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Academy for Fight Scenes That are Filmed So Quickly You Can't Tell WTF is Going On™.  The editing is terrible, then it's like they tried to cover that up by having everything take place in this weird fog. It managed to be an even bigger trainwreck then the fact that these characters all somehow ended up BFFs, putting each other before the ones they've been trying to reach.

Let's talk about the acting: Margot Robbie is an absolute A+ I love everything about her Harley and I hope she's given the movie she deserves one day. I can't say the same about Jared Leto. I never liked how the Joker looked, but the film never gave me the opportunity to change my mind. He's barely in it and he always feels like he's acting. He doesn't disappear in this role, he seems to be playing up the camp. Will Smith is a fun guy, so he's always reliable. As is Viola Davis, who's completely fierce.  Jai Courtney, normally the black hole of charisma is actually pretty good here. Kinnaman and Delevinge are flat out terrible, and I cringed every time one of them opened their mouths.

I'm sorry this got so long, but I can't help but be a bit frustrated. Even if I told myself I was going for one thing, the fact is this movie could've been SO much better. It's never boring, it had interesting components, but they failed to put them together coherently. It's hard not to rant about it.

Recommended: No

Grade: C-

Memorable Quote: "...pussy." - Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie)

Comments

  1. I almost feel sorry for Jai Courtney, does he have any fans. That said, like you, I thought he was pretty good in this film.

    I completely agree that they should have built the foundations for the ensemble movie before just blindly going ahead. Your ideas about film where the heroes/good guys send them to jail is pretty good.

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    1. Well, he brings it on himself with the lack of facial movements. Hopefully this is a step in him improving because the guy is very good looking. lol

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  2. "Fresh out of a vat of Hot Topic" *groans loudly in the office for 5 minutes*

    "I can't say the same about Jared Leto" *winces so hard glasses fall off her face*

    Your ideas about where to put those characters in other movies are so good. As badly handled DCEU is - and fuck me, is it badly handled - the worst thing about it is the ridiculous planning of the order the film happen.

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    1. lol I wanted to like Jared more, but he could be better. The direction of the whole thing is just bad. DC needs to stop screwing their viewers over, they could be great if they'd just be patient.

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  3. Instead of just typing YES over and over again, let me try to from actual sentences. For once.

    First, I entirely agree with your idea of setting these characters up in other movies. I'm a moron, so I just thought Batman should have done all of it, but your quick ideas are infinitely better. But now they're f--ked, because these 'bad guys' were the heroes, so if they ever return as true villains something will seem super off.

    Well, outside of the Joker...but that f--ker wasn't in this anyway. Growl. Purr. Growl. Growl.

    And second, sweet zombie Jesus that chick was terrible as Enchantress. Granted, that character screamed shitshow from the outset, but that lady didn't get it done.

    And finally, could Will Smith bring himself to play someone that isn't likable. Hancock was the closest thing...and even that guy turned out to be okay.

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    1. lol on Will Smith? I'm pretty sure he's likable in everything. I don't think he can do "terrible"

      Even Batman taking them out would've been a better choice than what we got. At least we would've seen these guys before.

      The purring...what a weird choice.

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  4. Haha Leto's Joker IS straight out of Hot Topic. His glorified cameo was unfortunate, because I actually liked him and Harley.

    Enchantress was the biggest waste of existence. That character was ridiculous. I just can't even anymore.

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    1. I don't understand what they were going for with Joker.

      Echantress was ridiculous. The voice was the worst part.

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  5. I am on record as saying I like it, but I do recognize it coulda/shoulda been much better. Your idea about setting these guys up as actual villains in prior movies is spot-on.

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    1. I'm glad you liked it! the "coulda/shoulda" is what frustrates me the most.

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  6. Please give me permission to use "Black hole of charisma"...That made me laugh so hard. It sounds like something Dorothy Parker would say. I have heard nothing but bad things about this film except for Robbie. It sounds like they just wanted some beautiful face for Enchantress and forgot she needs talent. I think your idea of previous films would be great. I can't wrap my head around the Joker villain. From everything I read, it seems they want to make him "softer" which totally blows considering what Heath Ledger accomplished

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    1. lol go head and use it. I used to save it for a wrestler named Randy Orton, but now I use it freely.

      I don't even think they went softer with this Joker, they went more...punk? Like, I don't understand what they're trying to do. I don't want to use the term Flamboyant because Joker was that in a few other versions but this one isn't very intimidating. It's too theatrical, even for a character that is pretty showy. lol

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  7. I thought about seeing this but once I heard about the re-shoots, it kind of scared me and then came the reviews and I'll wait for it on TV.

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  8. This one was such a mixed bag. There are elements I loved (Margot Robbie, Will Smith) and others that I detested (Jared Leto, the plot + pacing). In the end, I'm erring towards crushing disappointment. No matter how much I enjoyed those good things, I can't help but feel really underwhelmed and let-down by this film. Such a shame - the potential was there.

    Great review Brittani :)

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    1. I agree with your loves and hates. They could've done so much better.

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  9. I think the character development was decent, though I definitely wanted a lot more from each character, they were so great. Except for Enchantress, I couldn't give a fuck about her nor the "actress" playing her. Harley Quinn/Margot Robbie was by far the best thing about the film, I hope we see more of them.

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  10. "This isn't what I signed up for." That's a perfect headline for this review! Yeah, I didn't think it was boring either but definitely NOT a coherent flick. Harley is truly the best thing about it and I quite enjoyed Will Smith too but my goodness that Enchantress should've been called Dulltress instead!!

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    1. It's like they had no idea what to do with Enchantress. I wonder if Cara knew they were going to dub her voice like that? It sounded terrible.

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  11. Nice review! Great point about DC. I thought the same that they're trying too hard to compete with Marvel that their scripts are coming out so flimsy, despite a great casting and decent directors (outside of Zack Snyder of course). This movie had so much potential, and it's fun without thinking about the story too much and analyzing the flaws. But the trailers still led everyone astray. :/

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    1. It could've been really fun but I felt the flaws overshadowed that. It's hard to have a lot of fun when you realize how much better it could've been.

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  12. Oh bless you from seeing this film. I just didn't have the heart to see it. What happened? You know I never advocate for people to get fired, but someone needs to get fired from DC and WB. This is just beyond understanding. How could they possibly mess up these fascinating characters? Ayers and Synder definitely need to be the first to go. Synder...should have gone years ago, but I've never understand why everyone had such faith in Ayers. He's said some really stupid things and I don't think any of his other films are all that good. Oy. Poor Margot. She deserved a better film. Batfleck save us.

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    1. I agree. Ayers has made some good movies prior to this but he's not the right director for a big budget super hero movie. The fact that he screamed "Fuck Marvel!" at his film's premiere before the reviews came out makes him look even worse.

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  13. Hi Brittani!
    I nominated you for Sunshine Blogger Awards: https://sinekdoks.com/2016/08/24/the-sunshine-blogger-awards-2016/

    Would be a great pleasure if you're participating :)

    Cheers.
    -Paskalis

    ReplyDelete

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